Former Alliance councilman suing city board for Sunshine Law violations

A former Alliance councilman is suing the city board for Ohio Sunshine Law violations.

Steven Okey, former at-large councilman from 2005-11, alleges in a lawsuit filed against city council members Lawrence Dordea, Julie Jakmides, Roger Rhome, Donald E. Kline, Sue Ryan and Sheila Cherry (listed by the majority party) of conducting the selection of two members of the city's Water and Sewer Advisory Board by secret ballot.

Okey chose to list Dordea first, due to his role as president pro tempore, and to not file against Council President John Benincasa, who oversaw the meetings in question but didn't cast a vote. This means that Dordea's name will be the primary one appearing in court-related documentation.

Dordea recently announced his plan to run for Stark County sheriff, and Okey has been listed publicly as the attorney for the Stark County Democratic Party in their efforts to uphold the qualifications for George Maier, whom the party's Central Committee once again appointed to fill the post.

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However, Okey said the statute of limitations is two years on his lawsuit case and would run out today, so he had no choice but to file now.

"The timing has nothing to do with Mr. Dordea's candidacy for sheriff. I did represent the Stark County Democratic Central Committee and the party chairman in the mandamus lawsuit filed by (former Stark County Sheriff Timothy) Swanson and (Louis) Darrow. However, Mr. Dordea was not a party to that lawsuit," said Okey.

In his lawsuit, Okey cited an Oct. 18, 2011, opinion by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, which would have been issued weeks before he concluded his term on city council, that "a meeting is not 'open' to the public where members of a public body vote by way of secret ballot."

Okey acknowledged that during his three terms, there were times when he also participated in the practice, which has been long advocated as part of the organizational meeting for a newly elected council.

For example, according to the minutes from a Jan. 4, 2010, council meeting, where Okey was elected president pro-tem, Gerald Yost was reappointed council clerk after a secret ballot as two others also sought the post.

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And three meetings later, council would repeat the secret ballot activity with the Water and Sewer Advisory Board appointments. After giving applicants David Dreger, Nicole Devault and Derrick Loy two minutes to address council prior to the vote, the secret ballots came out after Okey moved to appoint Loy and DevVault as a voice vote with Phillips' seconding failed. Ultimately, Loy and Dreger were appointed.

Okey said Wednesday, "This is not a political or partisan attack. Unfortunately, members of both political parties participated in illegal secret ballot votes. Therefore, members of both parties have been named in the court action."

When asked about his actions during his council tenure and the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Okey said his votes were not subject to DeWine's October 2011 opinion.

"Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican, clearly states that secret ballot votes violate the Open Meetings Act. Attorney General DeWine issued 2011-038 about 10 weeks before I left office, so none of my votes were improper at the time," said Okey. "There is no excuse for a public official to be unaware of this important opinion 2 1/2 years after it was issued."

Law Director Jennifer Arnold said she is puzzled about some of the decisions Okey made in the filing the court action. For example, why wasn't Benincasa -- who oversaw both meetings -- or Roy Clunk, who served as president pro-tem during the other meeting, named in the lawsuit?

"You just cannot pick and choose. My position is that the vote (for Water and Sewer Advisory Board) was conducted properly, as detailed in the city's Council Rules. I plan to stand behind my council members and defend them vigorously," said Arnold.

Okey, who is performing a legal trifecta as serving as filing attorney, plaintiff and witness, is asking to be awarded a civil forfeiture of $500 per violation plus all court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. The case has been assigned to Judge John Haas.